


The Art of Magecraft 2: The Known World

by Themanwithaplan



Series: The Art of Magecraft series [2]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Politics, Drama, School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28455363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Themanwithaplan/pseuds/Themanwithaplan
Summary: Hello fans and happy New Year's Eve! After almost a year, the Art of Magecraft has returned for a second book. I am happy to be resuming this project after such a long time, and I hope you look forward to what will unfold in this book.After the incident involving the foreign mages, our four heroes- Finn, Lora, George and Edward- are back for another year in Antheusa's School of Magecraft. Their world is about to get a lot bigger, though, as new faces, foreign powers, and a new, near invincible threat make themselves manifest in their lives. How will they respond? Keep reading to find out!
Series: The Art of Magecraft series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2084253
Comments: 25





	1. Plan B

Finn lay quietly on his bed, silent but still wide awake, as he stared blankly at the ball of light on his palm. He remembered the first time he summoned this ball of light; over a year ago, on his very first day in the School of Magic, and he could have sworn that it had gotten bigger and brighter since then. Was it due to his increased experience, he wondered? Or perhaps it was age, or power? He wasn’t quite sure what the light was supposed to represent, but it did mean something special to him; a reminder of what… _who_ he had become, and a rubber stamp on everything he had seen and experienced since the day he walked into this hallowed institution’s halls.

Three months had passed since the tragedy that took place in the kingdom; that tragedy spearheaded by a rogue mage and enabled by the kingdom’s own nobility. Finn was not quite sure how that incident had affected the public’s perception of Antheusa’s mages, but he was quite sure it had somehow. What he was sure it affected, however, was his own perception of mages, including that of the School’s Headmaster, Zerastra, but most importantly his own self-perception.

With a sigh, he snuffed out the light and adjusted his position on the bed. His two roommates snored peacefully on their respective bunks. He closed his eyes, trying to make the most out of the three hours of sleep time he still had, but sleep would not come easily. If there was anything the nearly two month long break had taught him, it was that being a mage was changing him, mind, body and soul. Whether it was for better or worse remained to be seen.

“Alright everyone, settle down, settle down!”

Zober sighed. It was the first proper class they were having in the four weeks since they had arrived, and after rushing through the rest of the Ranking exams, the students were understandably anxious and jittery, especially when taking into account the madness that the kingdom was subjected to not too long ago. He might have been more sympathetic to their plight, had he not spent the last three months doing everything from random repair work to trying to get angry, bereaved citizens to calm down.

“Settle down!” he yelled again, this time clapping his hands for emphasis. That seemed to work. “Alright, now I’m very sure you’ve all had a stressful time these last three months, and you must be chomping at the bit to know just how well you did in the exams.” He reached under the podium. “Well, wait no longer.”

With that, he pulled out a stack of papers, and with a gesture, they flew out of his hand, fluttering in the air until each one landed in front of each student, and on each paper was the students name, their rank, their scores on each on the individual tests, and their final score, followed by a simple “PASS” or “FAIL”.

Zober audibly cleared his throat after giving the students some time to parse the information they had received, signaling that it was his time to speak. “Well, I think you all did pretty well this time. So here’s what’s gonna happen from now. Those of you who failed will be staying here and will have to repeat this year. Those of you who didn’t will be going to the other hall.” Then he tried to bring some mirth into his voice. “Many of you will be meeting new faces from now on, so cheer up! It’s a brand new set of experiences, huh?!”

Silently clearing his throat after virtually no one responded, he declared the class dismissed.

Words could not express how relieved Edward was as he trudged along the hallways with his friends. He, along with Finn and George, had just found out that they passed the Ranking exams, and that had given him more relief than he was prepared for.

“You okay, man?” Finn asked as he placed a hand on Edward’s shoulder, snapping him out of his musing. He gave a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…I was really anxious about the exam, like, _really._ For a while, I was actually scared Master Andraxes would fail me.”

“You thought yours was bad?” George scoffed. “I’m pretty sure you remember how my supervisor literally had it out for me.”

The others laughed out loud. Who could forget how Master Balthazar came just shy of promising to make his exam time as miserable as he could. A heavy pallor suddenly drowned out their mirth, as they realized that both men were brought, quite literally, to the brink of death while saving the kingdom from destruction and had not yet fully recovered, while their students made light of the fact that they were no longer supervised by the Masters because of that.

“So, has anyone heard from Lora?” Finn chirped, trying to move away from that topic.

“I hope she passed” Edward added.

“Relax guys, c’mon!” George harped. “This is Lora we’re talking about. She definitely passed.” He paused for a bit as he noticed that the students around him began to move in a direction. “I even heard that she’s taking some special fast-track class because she did so well.”

“Whoa really?” Finn replied, then he cut his thought chain. “Hey, where’s everyone else going?”

The answer soon made itself obvious to them, in the form of a human-sized owl pointing them to a direction, its huge, yellow eyes not focusing on anyone in particular. Edward chuckled. “Boy, does that sure bring that memories.”

“So you’re the Blackhound girl” Theodore Skythunder crooned as lay eyes on Lora as she entered his private office which was, compared to that of the Assistant Headmaster, absolutely tiny and cramped.

Lora bowed deeply. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Theodore.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet _you_ , Miss Blackhound Lora” he responded. “From what I’ve heard, you’re quite the prodigy.”

Lora chuckled bashfully. “Really?”

“Indeed” he responded as he reached into his desk. “Reaching Initiate Major at the age of thirteen is no mean feat. As a matter of fact, only one other student in the School’s entire three hundred year history has done what you did.”

That caught her interest. “Really? Who?”

Theodore finally emerged from his desk and placed a single sheet of paper on it. The slight pause he took before responding worried Lora a bit. “Well…it was Hephzibah.”

Lora did a double take at that. The memory of her interactions with her during the exams were still fresh as snow. “Oh, I guess we’re kinda similar in that regard, huh?”

“Yeah, in a way” he responded half-heartedly, the immediately got to the point of their meeting. “So, alongside your usual classes, you will be taking a few other special ‘fast-track’ classes.” He handed the paper to her. “This is the list of all the teachers you’ll be studying under, as well as the times they are available. You should have done at least twenty hours of extra classes with each of them before year’s end. Is that clear.”

“Understood.”

“Good” he said, the stood up to leave. “Now, I have some other business to take care of. You are excused.”

Lora bowed in response, then left his office with a head full of thoughts. _Similar to Hephzibah, huh?_ She was probably similar to her in other ways, ways that both scared and thrilled her.

“Theodore, my boy!” Edward Skythunder exulted as the mage walked into his sizeable study. “It’s been far too long. What have you been up to these days?”

“Nothing much, really” he responded as he took a seat. “Just doing what the other mages are doing; cleaning up the mess you and your cohorts made.”

Edward’s face darkened. “Still blaming me for that incident, I see.” He sighed. “If Zerastra had informed us of her past with the School we would never have…”

“Can I ask you a question, Lord Shythunder?”

Mildly taken aback by the interruption, he acquiesced to the younger nobleman nonetheless. “Go on.”

Theodore took a deep breath. “What do the noble houses have against the School? Why do we stymie them at every turn, only to push our youngest into becoming mages.”

“W-Well…well i…we…” The answer did not come easily to his lips, but it soon found him.

Slowly, Edward got up and began moving towards his study’s giant window. “You know, there’s a saying in the faraway continent of Zanderland. It goes; A kingdom is the strength of its mages.”

Theodore remained quiet.

“You mages, you see, have the power to do…well anything, really” Edward continued. “You can control the elements, warp space, cast curses, turn wood into gold! In the face of such power, what is a simple mortal bureaucrat? In fact, what is anyone compared to a mage.”

Theodore shifted in his seat. He began to understand the point he was trying to make.

“You see, you might think that we are working against the School of magic out of petty spite, and in a way, it’s true. However, this is more than just spite! We…I do this to preserve our place in the world. To maintain our relevance, we of the nobility must do everything in our power to strengthen our position in society, or, barring that, weaken theirs.”

“Even if it means the death of thousands of innocents?” Theodore cut in indignantly.

Edward scowled at him. “Do not forget that you, as well as many mages in that damned School are of noble blood as well. You would do well to remember your origins, and that the nobility’s stink is on you as well.” With that, he made to leave his study, leaving a dumbstruck Theodore to wallow in his thoughts; but not before coming to the conclusion that it was finally time to pick a side, and fast.

Deep down, and in spite of his own rationalization of the situation, Zerastra felt that he was making a mistake.

In the years since he became an Archmage, Zerastra could feel that he was changing in a fundamental way, that he was becoming more spirit than man, but in spite of his physical transformation, he was still, in his heart, as human a person as every other person in the kingdom. Despite what he was sure most people believed, he could still feel human emotions; love, hate, fear, joy, sorrow and the like, and he could definitely understand the feelings of all the ordinary people who lost loved ones in the terrorist attack carried out by his former protégé. So he had no illusions about how they would react if they found out that said protégé was not only alive and well (sort of) but under his care this very moment.

Despite his thoughts on that matter, however, he could not afford to get rid of her right now. He knew the woman he raised, and he was not about to underestimate her just because of the mass’s sentiment. Such was the mindset that he carried with him to the physically and magically sealed cell where she was held.

“You look well today, father” said Hephzibah, weakly. Dressed in a simple white garment, her face bore all the signs of long, continuous torture; her disheveled hair had been cut to her neckline and her otherwise beautiful face was marred with scars and bruises, all in varying states of freshness. But inside her dark-ringed eyes, Zerastra could still see the light of defiance, and that bothered him more than anything else.

“That’s odd” she continued. “You didn’t bring anyone else with you today. What’s the matter? Have you got something special for me?”

A terse silence settled in-between them.

She sighed. “You could come closer, you know.” She slowly shook the chains binding her hands and feet. “With these wretched chains binding me I can’t use most of my power…well, not that I’d be any match for you regardless.” She cocked her head to the right. “Maybe it’s just the last remaining dregs of your conscience preventing you from coming closer.”

“You have been defeated, Hephzibah” Zerastra stated, his deep voice saturating the air with its presence. “Aside from the one named Felix, your henchmen are all dead, and we will find him soon enough, along with the rest of your Blue Lily School. They will be slaughtered to a man, and you will be left with nothing. Such are the lengths to which I will go to protect what is mine.”

“Unless…”

Now Zerastra approached her, slowly and purposefully, until he was standing directly above her. “Unless you tell me your plan B”

Hephzibah sighed then slumped back against the wall. “This again? You’ve tortured me for months. You’ve gone through my mind like a book multiple times, yet you’re still convinced that I have some other plan.”

“Exactly” he replied. Then he crouched down to her level, looking her in the eye. “I know you, Hephzibah. I know what you’re capable of. That combination of thoroughness, intelligence and single-mindedness was what made you one of the best students in the School’s history. I don’t know what you intend to do to us, now that your plan has failed, but I will find out. I will find out if I have to tear your soul asunder.”

Hephzibah said nothing, instead stared daggers at him as he got up and left her cell. Once he did so, however, a smile crept onto her face. She herself was not entirely sure why she was smiling, as she had used her own formidable mastery of Mind magic to suppress the memory to the point that even the most potent mind-reading and truth serums could not bring it out, but she smiled anyway, as the two words that could jog her memory flickered at the back of her mind.

_Darkness Dragon._


	2. Big Projects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big things are about to happen to Antheusa. meanwhile, Our heroes get assigned special group projects, but for the first time they will not work as a group. How will they cope?

_He opened his eyes slowly, remaining immobile for a few seconds as his sight readjusted itself to the light. The lighting in his place would be considered dim for humans and most other creatures, but for him, it was bright; much brighter than it had been for the past century, at least. Something had changed, and he quickly realized that the increased lighting was merely a symptom of that change._

_Quietly he arose, his massive frame taking up a good chunk of the small island cave that had served as his prison for all these years. He could smell the waves, as usual, but he could not hear the howling of the cyclones that surrounded his island home, and no wind blew on his face. With the grace of a cat, he crawled out of the cave entrance, and the sight nearly made his heart skip a beat._

_Grey clouds blanketed the sky, constantly threatening to rain though he knew they would never actually deliver. Nothing but water surrounded him for miles upon miles, but the waters were calm, calmer than they had been since he first beheld them when he awoke from his recuperative slumber at least a hundred years prior. He sniffed the air again. This was no visual deception. There was only one reasonable explanation for this; the spell that had kept him bound all this while had been broken. Inwardly, he laughed._

**_So she kept her promise after all, huh?_ **

_As he stretched out his enormous wings, he reminisced on the events that had led to his peculiar situation; how his last battle against his yang counterpart left him at the brink of death; how he awoke after who knows how long just to spend centuries eating nothing but rocks and the occasional wayward ship as he regained his strength and plotted to break free of the curse that had trapped him there; how one of those so-called mages- a human female in dark clothes- vowed to break the curse and set him free in exchange for him destroying some place. He gave another silent laugh and, with a great leap and a mighty beat of his wings, he was airborne. Up and up he flew, past the island, past the clouds, until he finally broke through and beheld the sun for the first time in forever. As one who was called a creature of darkness, he was mildly relieved by how much he appreciated the light._

_Without missing a beat, he dove back down to earth to begin his search for the place…Antheusa, was it?_

* * *

“You guys ever heard of a group project before?”

A bout of murmuring ensued. For most of the eighty three students who had been promoted, this concept was nothing new; they were merely excited about- or lamenting on- the prospect of working with other students. For some though, Finn included, this was a completely new thing, which was why he raised a hand. “Excuse me, ma’am, but uh, what is a group project?”

Finn tried to ignore the muffled snickers emanating from all around him. The bespectacled teacher silenced them with a glare. “Good question, Finnegan. In a group project, you will be working with some other students to complete an assignment. You will be graded both individually and as a group.” She readjusted her glasses by the bridge. “In this case, you will be separated into groups of four. And as for your project…”

All of a sudden, a large, colorful phoenix flew towards her completely unbidden, before resting on her outstretched left arm, leaving the class in awe. “Each group is to raise a single magical creature for the next month.” She was beaming. “The general health and well-being of the creature by the one-month deadline will determine your grade. You will be required to submit an activity log showing how each group member contributed to the creature’s growth to determine individual scores, got that?”

Finn nodded then sat back down. The murmuring that resumed after the fact proved to him that a considerable amount of people initially understood the group project about as well as he did, which upset him a bit. Why would they laugh behind his back if they didn’t know any better than he did?

“Alright” the teacher said, putting a stop to the murmuring. “Now I’m sure everyone understands what this entails. Go to the Bestiary to find your group and obtain the beasts assigned to you. Alright? Alright. Class dismissed!”

“Hey guys” Lora called to the other three as the class began to disperse. “I just realized, since we’re not picking our groups by ourselves, it’s possible we won’t all be in the same group.”

“Yeah, I figured” George replied nonchalantly. “In fact, none of us may end up being in the same group.”

“Doesn’t seem too bad” said Edward.

Finn put a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be okay, right?”

Lora sighed then turned to him with a smile. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

* * *

Edward was, in all honesty, disappointed by the magical creature his group was assigned. He had hoped he would get something like a gryphon or a bicorn, something that would prepare him to face a dragon, the most dangerous of magical beasts, or at least something more intimidating than a puffball. He and his group-mates stared blankly at the tiny ball of brown fur with giant eyes and two lizard-like feet, wondering how they expected them to split the duty of taking care of this tiny creature between them.

So it was with a sigh that Edward began that uncomfortable conversation. “Alright, so…what I know about puffballs is that, uh, they drink nectar, like bees, and they like being cuddled…” He was interrupted by the same tiny creature suddenly jumping onto him, forcing him to catch it. Up close, even he could not help but admit that the thing was adorable.

“Well, the thing seems to like you” one of the other students said nonchalantly. “You should be the one to handle it.”

Edward’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, but we’re doing this together, right?”

“Look, that thing is so tiny” said another student, a girl this time. “It’d be a waste for all four of us to take care of that thing.”

“But we’re supposed to do this _together._ The activity log…”

“Alright, alright, we’ll help” the third one complained. “I still think it’s a waste of time, though.”

“Good” Edward hissed. _They better._

* * *

“Dude, it’s a frog. All it needs are bugs.”

“It’s not just ‘a frog’ genius, it’s a giant frog. How many bugs do you intend to feed it?”

“They live in temperate grasslands, so we should feed them grassland animals like, uh…deer?”

“How are we supposed to find a deer, dumbass?”

The three went on and on, arguing about how to feed the juvenile giant frog, while Finn stood back and watched, waiting for his time to speak. For a juvenile of its size, small mammals like rabbits would be more than enough for it. Better yet, they were readily available in the fields and grasslands surrounding the kingdom. All he had to do was get in a word… 

“How good are you at Nature magic to call deer all the way from there?”

“We’re not doing the deer thing, Simon!”

“I still think we should feed it bugs.”

“Ahem, guys. Guys!”

The bickering stopped, and all eyes were on him. _Good,_ Finn thought. Now he could say something. “We should just feed it rabbits! You know, they’re like, _everywhere_ in the kingdom, especially the outskirts, and with our magic it’ll be way easier for us to…”

“Hey, if not deer then what about birds?”

“Birds huh…you know, that doesn’t seem too bad.”

Finn recoiled. “H-Hold on, birds are much harder to catch than rabbits! Maybe we should…”

“Alright, birds it is!”

Finn crossed his arms in disbelief while his so-called group-mates congratulated each other. They were making a mistake, as far as he knew, but they clearly were not inclined to listen to anything he had to say. Deep down, he despaired, for the last thing he wanted was his score to be affected by his teammates refusal to accept any input from him, but their ignoring him hurt him in another way; a deep, personal way he could not completely understand, simply because it was something he was not used to feeling. Was this how the rest of this project was going to go?

* * *

Meanwhile, things weren’t going very smoothly on George’s team, either, but for completely different reasons. The wood spider they had been assigned had suddenly broken free from its cage, and they now found themselves in a small enclosure, staring down one of the more dangerous creatures among those given to the students.

George could feel the sweat going down his back, tensing up every time the turkey-sized arachnid made that clicking sound. That, as one of his other teammates explained to him, came from the creature rapidly knocking its fangs together- fangs which, even in a juvenile, contained enough venom to kill a horse in less than five minutes. “Darn it.” One of them cursed. “We can’t hurt it, but we can’t let it escape either.”

“I have an idea” said George. “Calvin, get the cage. We’re gonna rush this thing at once.”

Calvin stared at him incredulously. “Are you crazy? One bite from that thing has enough venom to kill all of us instantly. Why would you even…?”

“Dude, trust me, I’ve got this.”

With that, he conjured a small ball of fire using second tier Elemental magic, then gave a knowing nod to the rest of his party. Calvin inched towards the cage, careful not to spook the spider, lest it attacked or ran away. The wood spider swayed, its rotten wood-textured carapace vibrating almost unnoticeably while it watched them with its eight emerald eyes, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

“NOW!”

Finn threw the tiny fireball up in the air, and the resultant bang startled the spider just long enough. Not wasting a single moment, the three of them lunged at the thing, while Calvin readied the cage.

* * *

Lora placed the carrot just above one of the living slime’s mouths, quickly letting it go once its teeth got around it. “See, it’s that easy” she chirped as she watched the dull brown, shapeless entity devour the carrot. She found the beast cute, in a creepy sort of way.

With that done, she turned to her teammates. “And that is how you feed a living slime. Any questions?”

“Interesting” said a tall male student. “Can slimes eat anything at all, or just plant matter?”

“Well, slimes can eat anything, but only what they like. This one likes vegetables. You might find one that likes, I dunno…used rags, parsnips, blood, they’re weird like that.”

“Alright” Lora announced. “It’s time we started sharing tasks. Damian, you’ll be in charge of ensuring it’s hydrated. Tammy, you will be with it when Damian and I aren’t around. Gerald, you are in charge of updating the logbook.”

“And what about you?” Gerald asked. “What’ll you do?”

“I’ll take care of feeding” she replied, not as oblivious to the vitriol behind that question as Gerald probably thought.

Gerald scoffed. “Whatever, witch.”

Lora froze. The insult stung, as usual, and there was that hurt that she had come to expect at least twice a week, and had been dulled recently. However, there was something else this time. Something that had been there before, but not nearly as strong as it was today; usually, she would feel that anger, but only for a moment. This time, though, the heat didn’t leave; it stayed, smoldering like hot coals, and with it came thoughts; thoughts of setting him on fire or bashing his brain in; thoughts of flaying his skin or cutting him to pieces and feeding him to wild animals; anything to assuage the fire that burned in her heart at the moment.

“Hey, that’s not cool! Take that back!”

Damian’s rebuke doused the heat inside her, leaving her with nothing but a lingering sense of shame for even entertaining such thoughts. She barely even heard Gerald’s nonchalant “whatever” as she wondered what had happened to make such an insult, which she had brushed aside several times in the past, sting to the point that she actually considered _killing_ him. Making a mental note that she would have to see Mariah sometime in the near future, she fed the living slime another carrot.

* * *

Sitting across a small table from her, in a tiny room lit only by a single candle, Malachi could see what made the Headmaster so worried. Despite the fact that she was obviously still swooning because of her recent torture session, she still gave off that strange air of confidence, like a master swordsman who knew his novice opponent thought he had him beat. If there was one thing that he, as well as Lee and Anna, who were seated on either side of him, could take from this meeting, it was that Hephzibah could not be underestimated, and she wasn’t done yet.

“S-So what is this?” Hephzibah began, her voice shaky. “Is this you people’s routine now, some sort of post-torture therapy session?”

“Therapy is far from what you deserve” Malachi spat. “What we’re offering you is a chance to end the pain.”

“I was hoping I would get to keep your body when you confessed.” That came from Lee. “I’ve learned quite a lot about a mage’s body in the past few months. Unfortunately, my previous test subject recently expired.” He was hoping for a rise from that little factoid; he was disappointed. “You would make a great experiment, assuming your body is still intact.”

Hephzibah chuckled. “What is this? Is this supposed to scare me? Persuade me?”

“No” said Anna, leaning forward. “The point is to show you that things are going to get a lot worse for you if you don’t start talking.”

Hephzibah scoffed, leaning back on her chair, toying with her handcuffs. Malachi saw her silence as a glimmer of hope; maybe they had actually gotten to her this time. “Where is your partner, Felix?”

“How should I know?” she responded coyly. “I haven’t spoken to him in months, as you very well know.”

“What are the both of you up to?”

“You mean what is _he_ up to? I don’t know, but I’m sure- no, I _know_ \- that I will love every single part of it.”

“And what makes you so sure of that?”

“ Not much, really. Anything that results in Antheusan citizens dying is a win in my book, so…there.”

Malachi could feel Anna tense up at that last statement. Even Lee’s expression had darkened somewhat. _Damnit_ he thought. _We can’t let this bitch get the better of us._

Malachi cleared his throat. “You know, Hephzibah, they were my people too. I was as aware of the massacre as you were. You don’t see me get so worked up about it. Do you want to know why? It is because I know our people deserved it. They had plunged the kingdom to chaos. They had…”

“You were an orphan long before they were killed” Hephzibah interrupted, with more vigor than Malachi thought she could muster given her state. “More than that you willingly chose to ally yourself to that monster, so don’t give me any crap about ‘they were my people too’.”

The three of them could hear the anger seeping into her voice. “You piece of worm filth. I was a child when he took me in. I had no choice but to comply, but you went to him willingly. We were the same age when it happened. You knew what he had done to our people. You knew all of that and chose to side with the traitors. Of all the detestable waste I’ve encountered in this shit-stain you call a kingdom, I despise you most of all!”

The three of them were still reeling from that little emotional outburst when a loud rapping shook the air. “Come in” Anna announced, and almost before she finished that sentence, a plainly but cleanly dressed man of slight build marched into the room.

“Esteemed mages” he began. “The Crown demands your presence.”

That certainly caught the three of them off guard, especially Malachi. “The Crown? Whatever for?”

“I was not told, but it is a matter of the utmost urgency, as I was told.”

Malachi cast a glance to each of his companions, and came to a silent agreement. “We will be there at once.” With that, the messenger gave a short bow and exited the room.

“Your day of reckoning is near” Hephzibah crooned just as they stood up, prompting them to freeze in place. “It may not be today, or tomorrow, but soon. And once it comes, your precious kingdom will be nothing nut a memory.”

With hearts filled with unease, the three of them left the rogue mage, her dry, throaty laughter right behind them.


	3. Light and Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new threat looms over Antheusa, forcing both the nobility and the School to make an unsavory alliance. Meanwhile, Lora decides it's time to confront her own inner demons.

When Malachi and his companions found themselves not in the courtroom nor in any recognizable place, but in a large, dark room underneath the Royal Complex, lit by oil lamps and ventilated by special crystals embedded into the walls, it became as clear as day to them that whatever they had been called for would determine the future of the entire kingdom. In what way, however, they could not tell. The King, Lord Zerastra, Masters Justinian, Jillian and Balthazar were already present, as well as several highly placed nobles, all seated at a large, mahogany table. Anna in particular took notice of the strangely dressed fellow seated at the end of the table nearest to the room’s only door; dressed in a simple white tunic and baggy red trousers underneath a black captain’s greatcoat, his bronzed skin, wild dark mane and impressive beard done in three long braids made it pretty obvious to her- and everyone else in the room, she assumed- where he came from.

“Assistant Headmaster Malachi” said Justinian as he stood up in greeting, along with everyone else except Zerastra, the king and the nobles.

“We came as soon as we received the summons” Malachi stated. He felt the matter was most likely too urgent to exchange pleasantries.

“You’re a long way from home.” That came from Anna, and it was no surprise for whom that was directed.

“Indeed I am, miss” the man responded, taking a deep bow. She noticed the saber hanging by his left side. “The Silver Corral Alliance and her School of Magic have been allies with Antheusa for decades. Unfortunately, the news I come bearing is anything but good.”

“Alright now, enough with the chit-chat” the king interjected as the three of them took their seats. “Since we’re all here, I say it’s time we began. What was so urgent you had to call us all here?”

The man stood up. “I’ve already explained this to Lord Zerastra, so I’ll make it brief. It seems your kingdom has gotten the attention of an unfathomably powerful and dangerous being; the Darkness Dragon.”

Just as he expected, that name created more confusion than fear among the congregate. _Darkness Dragon? What even is that? It sounds scary. Should we be worried?_

One of the nobles present was the first to speak up. “Uh, excuse me, Mr…”

“Marshall” the man replied.

“Mr. Marshall, it would seem that most of us are quite lost on the matter. Uh, what exactly is this ‘Darkness Dragon’?”

“Even I don’t know anything about this Darkness Dragon, though its existence had been theorized.” Balthazar replied.

“That’s not surprising” Zerastra stated. “Unlike the rest of its kind, Darkness Dragon is not possessed of that unquenchable thirst for treasure, so it rarely interacts with other creatures or even members of its own kind.”

“Not to mention there is only one Darkness Dragon” Marshall added. “It was sealed away on an island over a hundred years ago with powerful Spatial magic, but that seal seems to have been undone.”

“How do you know it’s looking for Antheusa?” Jillian asked.

“The beast came upon a trireme belonging to a friend of mine. It referred to your kingdom by name.”

The uneasiness in the room grew significantly. “But what would such a creature want with Antheusa?”

No one present could possibly answer that question, but Zerastra had a theory; one that was so unsavory that even thinking about it made him sick. He dared not mention it now, though, lest he invite more fear into the meeting. He placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands as he got to work thinking of the best way to resolve this situation while keeping the kingdom safe. “Is this creature malevolent, Mr. Marshall?”

Marshall crossed his arms. “To be honest, I don’t know. Records of the dragon are few and far between, but it can be inferred that it doesn’t attack unless provoked.

“So did we provoke it? What did the kingdom do to get its attention? What did we _not_ do? Why is it…?”

“Enough” the king boomed, silencing both the noble who said that and his potential supporters. Mr. Marshall, let us assume this creature is hostile. How do we stop it?”

Marshall let out a loud sigh. “Right now, and I’m being completely honest here, it is impossible for you to stop it.”

Instead of more murmuring as he expected, a strange silence settled into the place, as the fear of Antheusa being destroyed by an evil dragon mere months after she had survived a terrorist attack wrestled with the sheer disbelief that there was nothing they could do to stop the creature. Even the mages were concerned, he could tell, though their worry was not born from paranoia like the nobles.

“You can’t be serious” one noble chirped, chuckling nervously. “I mean, we have an Archmage here! Not to mention a whole bunch of strong mages. Are you saying that we can’t stop some dragon even with all…?”

“He’s right” Zerastra cut in. “The Darkness Dragon is no ordinary dragon. Other dragons are associated with one of the four elements- fire, wind, earth and water. This dragon, however, derives its strength from a force so… so _primal_ , so fundamental, one that permeates everything that exists. It is darkness, the cold, fear, wisdom, patience, lightness…everything that our friends on the Eastern continent have codified into the word ‘Yin’. No ordinary dragon’s power could even compare to it. In fact, I suspect that its abilities are as far above the rest of its kind…as mine are above other mages.”

The murmuring continued once more, and this time even the king could not bring himself to silence it as he stared down the potential end of his kingdom. “I see, so…how do we stop it, if we even can?”

“There is only one creature that can match it in strength” said Marshall. “Like Lord Zerastra said, Darkness Dragon represents ‘Yin’, but Yin is just one of two opposing yet related forces that make up the building blocks of this world.”

“So you’re saying there’s a Light Dragon, one that represents Yang?” Anna cut in, tired of the needless drivel.

Lee could almost feel the relief that washed over the faces of most of the nobles, as if simply knowing that this Light Dragon existed solved all their problems. He didn’t blame them, really. Unlike Darkness Dragon, Light Dragon carried with it good connotations. After all, wasn’t light considered good? Of course, even if this dragon was good, it still didn’t mean it would agree to help them or was even inclined to listen to them, and if it was as powerful as implied, there was no way they could press it into their service. Even more than that, however, they had no idea where the dragon was, or even if it was alive. He didn’t quite feel like spoiling the nobles’ fun, however- that was Malachi’s job.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves” Malachi cautioned. “Remember, we still don’t know where this creature is, or even if it’s able or willing to help us.”

“Whether or not it will help us, I cannot say” Zerastra opined. “I do know where Light Dragon is, but I’m afraid that is a problem all on its own.”

That caught everyone else, especially Marshall, completely off guard, for even the Silver Corral Alliance had absolutely no idea where the Light Dragon could even be. Zerastra took no time clearing that issue up.

“You see, the creature currently resides in Midlim, and yes, they are aware that it is there and what it is.”

The hearts of all those present, as elated as they were before, sank by almost as much. For what was quite possibly their only salvation to reside in the hands of their magical and political rival was almost poetic in its cruel irony. Already, whispers of “those damned Midlimi” and “we should have destroyed those rats forever ago” began circulating around the table. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

“If this Light Dragon is in Midlim as you say, Lord Zerastra, then I believe a diplomatic mission is in order” said the king. “I shall write a letter to them immediately.”

“You do that” Zerastra replied. “But I will be meeting with them. Archimedes will never listen to a non-mage.” He turned to the rest of them. “In the meantime, Master Jillian, you will be responsible for finding and keeping an eye on this monster. You may enlist the help of as many mages as you please, but discretion is of the highest priority. We do _not_ want this problem leaking to the public.”

“Understood.”

“Master Malachi, you will take care of the School in my stead, as usual. You also need to prepare for a possible evacuation.”

“Right.”

“As for you, Mr. Marshall, you have been of invaluable help to us.” Zerastra bowed deeply. “Be certain that Antheusa’s School of Magecraft will not forget this kindness.”

“Always a pleasure” he replied, bowing as well.

With that concluded, the king stood up with a loud sigh. “Alright, I believe we all know what to do, so let’s get to it. This kingdom has endured a great disaster; let her not endure a second one so soon.”

* * *

“Yeah, so, I’ve been meaning to ask you guys a question” George blurted out as he stuffed a spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth. “Are Wood spiders actually made of wood, or is it just what they’re called.”

“Dude, don’t talk while you eat!” Finn complained, less because it was bad manners and more because doing so was a crime in the cafeteria, and he definitely didn’t want to be implicated.

“They’re called that because they look like they’re made from wood when fully grown, I think.” That came from Edward who, at the very least, had no food in his mouth. That didn’t make him any less conspicuous, however, as the tiny Puffball that had latched on to his head automatically drew all eyes towards him.

A mischievous smile crept onto George’s face. “You know, that Puffball kinda look good on you, kinda like…like a fluffy fur hat, with eyes.”

Edward groaned. If he had known that the creature would become so attached to him, to the point that it literally never left his side, he might have just dumped it on one of his group-mates like they had dumped it on him. He could feel the thing tugging on his hair, and he found himself resisting the urge to grab his butter knife and stab it.

“I heard once that Puffballs bring good dreams to the people they like” Finn chirped. “Well, what do you think, Lora? Lora?”

Lora jumped in her seat, nearly spilling some of the oatmeal on her clothes. “Oh, uh…what was it again?”

“Is everything okay, Lora?” Finn asked, his face etched with worry.

The other two were no less concerned. “You’ve been sort of spacing out these past few weeks” George seconded. “Is something the matter?”

“If there’s anything wrong, you can share it with us” said Edward. “That what friends are for.”

Lora gave a forced smile. “Thanks guys, but it’s okay. I’m fine. I mean, yeah, something is bothering me, but it’s nothing bad. I can handle it.”

“Whatever you say” George replied, just as unconvinced as the other two, before stuffing his face with more oatmeal. He had noticed something change about her ever since the incident with those foreigners, but he could not for the life of him guess what it was, though he was pretty sure it had something to do with her Grigori heritage.

Lora watched them silently for the rest of the meal as they began debating on whatever a Wood spider was made of. Inwardly, she berated herself for not sharing her issues with her friends, but she also did not want to burden them with what was ultimately little more than needless worrying over a throwaway statement by a terrorist. Fortunately, there was someone she could talk to about it. Someone trained to deal with matters like this.

 _And deal with this matter I must_ she said to herself as the bell rang. The last thing she wanted was for this chip on her shoulder to affect her studies.

* * *

Lora stepped quietly into the homely cottage that served as the School’s psychiatric ward, noting that it seemed a bit busy, or at least busier than it was the last time she was here. It still retained that air of idyllic serenity that its proprietor, Moriah, enforced, though the effect of the increased number of people moving around in the place could not be missed.

“Excuse me ma’am, I made an appointment for 4 pm today.”

“I’m afraid Lady Moriah is busy at the moment, but you are free to wait” the receptionist responded with a warm smile.

Lora looked around. “Yeah, it seems everyone’s busy today.”

The receptionist giggled. “Yeah, we have a very important guest here today.” She gestured to a chair at the corner of the room. “If you could please wait there?”

Lora took her seat, kicking her legs idly as she wondered who this important person could be. In much less time than she anticipated, however, Moriah came through the inner door. She looked no different from before. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Lora. Come with me.”

As they made their way to her office, Lora finally popped the question. “Excuse me, Lady Moriah, but the place seems awfully busy today…”

“I’ve been expecting you, Lora” Moriah cut in. “I had a feeling that you would one day come here for a session.”

At first, she wanted to press on with her query, but this suddenly seemed more important. “You were…expecting me?”

Moriah nodded. “Given your…unique circumstances, I anticipated you might have a hard time fitting in with the rest of the student body. I don’t normally schedule meetings for students this late, but I have made a special exception for you.”

Lora did not know whether to be grateful, offended or frightened as she entered the mage’s office. One thing was for sure, though; she was in for one heck of a therapy session.

“Now” Moriah began as she took her seat “let’s talk about your hate.”

* * *

When he was but a little child, Lee’s father often said to him these words; the chickens always come home to roost. He had always interpreted that to mean that people who do bad things get what they deserve. Indeed, younger him would have been mortified by the events that had just unfolded.

He paced around his lab with the letter containing the invitation from Midlim, surrounded by strange apparatuses used for dissecting and examining a variety of organisms and glass containers of varying sizes, filled with the internal and external organs of a hundred different creatures suspended in fluid. The invitation being extended to him was perfectly normal; that same invitation requesting that Cassandra, Finn and Edward show up was what sent alarm bells ringing in his head.

Cassandra walked into the lab without knocking, knowing that Lee already knew she was around. “You asked to see me, Mr. Lee?”

“Yes, I did. I believe you are aware that I have been selected for a diplomatic mission to Midlim?”

“Y-Yes, I am.”

“Well, it would seem that Midlim has requested that you and two students named Finn and Edward come with us.

“Oh” Cassandra vocalized, then it dawned on her the implication of Lee’s words. “ohhh…”

He nodded in understanding. “Holding grudges is one thing that Midlimi are very good at.”

Cassandra was now uneasy. “They can’t…they wouldn’t try anything in a diplomatic meeting, right?”

Lee finally turned to face her. “Not if they see it as reparations or something along those lines, though they risk starting a war even then, and a war is the last thing we need right now.”

“Do the children know?”

Lee sighed. “No, not yet. They will be informed once we’ve determined that it’s safe to bring them along.”

“Did they ask for Macross?”

“Strangely enough, no.” he replied. “Perhaps it’s because he didn’t actively participate in stopping those mages.”

Cassandra crossed her arms, worry etched on her face. “Can I turn down the offer?””

“That would be…unwise. This mission is far too important for the kingdom.”

“What even is the point of it anyway?” she blurted out, a bit louder than she preferred. “Why is this mission so important?”

Lee turned away from her. Another thing his father used to tell him was “the more a secret spreads, the less of a secret is becomes.” Lee could not afford to give her the full rundown of the situation, lest he start a nationwide panic. On the other hand, telling her could just simply end with him winning her trust on this. It took him less than a second to decide, and as he faced her once again, he hoped he had made the right decision.

“Alright then, I’ll tell you everything, and you might want to sit down for this one.”


	4. Midlim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn, Edward, Lee and Lord Zerastra venture off to Midlim, Antheusa's oldest rival, to ask for the Light Dragon, though Finn and Edward don't even realize this. What awaits them in the land surrounded by mountains?

For the first time since their trip began, Edward looked out of the carriage’s tiny window and onto the green rolling fields, dotted by the occasional homely cottage and its patch of crop and livestock and framed by majestic, snow-capped mountains that characterized most of Midlim’s countryside. According to a history book he read some time ago, the first Midlimi people were refugees fleeing an invading army, and were guided to this place surrounded by mountains that no large army could cross by an angel. This, according to them, meant that they were a people blessed by God, and this made them automatically superior to anyone else; or at the very least to the largely secular Antheusa. This, Edward believed, was probably the reason both countries had fought a total of eight wars against each other, and the embers of mutual hatred and fear still smoldered in their hearts even though their last war ended before his parents were born.

“Enjoying the view, Edward?”

Edward turned to face Lee, who, alongside Cassandra, was seated opposite him. Beside him, Finn leaned on the seat’s armrest, sound asleep. He silently wondered why Lee had chosen to call his attention and not Finn’s. “Uh, it’s okay I guess.” He turned backwards to face the window once again. “So this is Midlim, huh? Not too different from Antheusa so far.”

Lee chuckled. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Midlim and Antheusa are as similar as night and day.” He paused for a second. “This is actually the longest route to their capital we’re taking. Do you want to know why?”

Edward wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that question, but his curiosity won out in the end. “Why?”

“It’s the only path where we don’t have to worry about getting attacked by hungry monsters or mad spirits. Gryphons, Manticores, direwolves, banshees, the whole lot of them stalk these mountains.” Edward noticed how his tone of voice became just slightly more somber. “This stretch of land is Midlim’s entire internal food supply, and even this is not enough for the country, so they invade other, smaller pockets of civilization around them, and when they cannot invade, they give in return for foodstuff things like mercenaries or a mage to fulfill some task for them, but mostly potions, poultices and artifacts made from the very creatures that prowl around the mountains.” He chuckled a bit at that last sentence. “The Midlim people are a people defined by conflict. Conflict has shaped their past, present and future; very unlike us. You may find them to be quite a bit different from the folks you’re used to back in Antheusa. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you.”

“Don’t scare him like that!” Cassandra berated. She probably said something else after that, but Edward had stopped paying attention. The only Midlimi people he knew were the three mages in Arcadia, so that, combined with his knowledge of history, already gave him a picture of what these people were; whether or not his view of them would change after this encounter filled him with cautious excitement and creeping dread.

* * *

Zerastra did not need to look out of his personal carriage’s window to know that they had entered Midlim’s capital. He closed his eyes, listening to the buzz of social activity as he passed rows upon rows of food stalls and clothing vendors, drinking in the song of commerce and conversation, interaction and transaction, until his spirit resonated in perfect unison with the place and his very soul became one with Midlim. Now, if he were to step out of his vehicle, he would not be seen as an outsider to the lay people. They would treat him like they would any other regular old Son of the soil. Most mages, he thought, tended to always go for the grand, spectacular displays of magical puissance, forgetting that even the most basic and mundane-seeming spells with the least obvious or flashy effects had real power when applied correctly. He came a long time ago to the conclusion that this tendency towards ostentation was simply a side effect of being able to wield so much power. This phenomenon even spilled outside magecraft and affected everything the mage touched, and nowhere was this more apparent than in Midlim’s capital.

Like the capital city of Antheusa, Midlim was filled with bustling streets, aerial walkways and towering buildings which constantly hummed with the ambience of magic-powered items being used. However, even the untrained eye could see the subtext of needless gaudiness that permeated the buildings. Larger than they probably needed to be, covered head to toe with baroque carvings, topped by more spires than they probably needed and painted so garishly that they almost looked like birthday cakes, one could not help but get the impression that the owners of these buildings were compensating for something. The Midlimi were a proud people and displayed their national identity like a trophy, reveled in it even, and why wouldn’t they? After all, theirs was a kingdom ruled not by royalty but by mages, including not one, but _two_ Archmages.

Before long, they had made it to the country’s School of Magic, and Zerastra soon found himself wishing that he were in the same carriage as the two children, if only to see their expressions once they lay eyes on the place. He had been here three times in the past, so it was not as amazing and awe inspiring to him as it probably would be to them, but the difference between this place and his own country’s School- at least on the outside- was still a bit jarring. If Midlim’s tendency towards ostentation seeped into the architecture of the capital, it practically poured out of them here. Where Antheusa’s School of Magic went for a grand but somber aesthetic, using a lot of grey and subdued colours, which was meant to show anyone who entered that magic was very serious business, Midlims went instead for bright, almost pastel colours, with the dormitories and classrooms painted an ivory that almost seemed to sparkle under direct sunlight. From without, what he could identify through past visits as the classrooms could be mistaken for ballrooms. Zerastra watched smiling, energetic students traipse in and out of their buildings in their immaculately white, gold embroidered coats, carrying themselves with an air of prestige and entitlement one only saw in noble children, which made sense considering as aspiring mages, they were practically royalty in this country.

It almost made him sick, if he was being honest, as he believed that a mage’s duty in this world was to serve the people and not rule over them, but different country, different rules. He had no interest in arguing with Archimedes or his protégé about such touchy philosophical points on the mage’s relationship with their country. Not when he needed his help to save his own.

* * *

Finn made a big show of comporting himself, which was all for the better after spending quite a while just staring and gaping in awe at the place. With his initial excitement now cooled, he realized the School of Magic wasn’t really much different from Antheusa’s…except it was so much _brighter!_

“Are you seeing this, Ed? Look at that huge tower over there!” Finn chirped excitedly.

“I know” he replied. He wasn’t quite as vocal about it, but his awe was no less intense. “This place makes our school look like a graveyard. I mean, look how white everything is!”

“Don’t go running off now!” Cassandra cautioned. This was also the first time she was seeing the School, but if she was even a little awestruck, she was very good at hiding it.

Lee, on the other hand, stood behind them all just where the carriage once was, far too concerned to be excited, and not in any way because he had been here twice before. He harbored no illusions as to why he and the others were invited. What he couldn’t understand was why Lord Zerastra apparently felt it was okay to leave them all to the mercy of the Midlimi while he went to visit the School’s Headmaster by himself. Maybe, Lee rationalized, he felt that if a “mishap” were to happen- as they were often wont to when Antheusan ambassadors visited- he and Cassandra could at the very least get the children to safety. Maybe the Headmaster had worked out some deal with Midlim that would leave them unharmed but needed their presence, or maybe Archibald just needed some closure, which would mean he would have to fight, but at least it was just him.

Of course, there was another, far less palatable possibility; that Zerastra was serving them up to Midlim in order to get his dragon. As he watched the others get their things into the little but beautiful-looking on campus guest house, he desperately hoped that wasn’t the case. He stopped thinking once he saw that they had stopped dead in their tracks.

As if to mock his presumption, right behind the door of the house stood what could only be three Midlimi mages. One of them- a woman of average height and lithe build, wearing trousers studded with leather and metal strips and a grey crop top- strode purposefully out of the house, nearly hitting Edward with the large red spear she was brandishing. Her white hair was done in a ponytail and Lee could see the mild annoyance on her face which thankfully didn’t seem to be directed towards him. The second one was a bear of a man, and had to duck just to fit through the doorframe. Thick, dark, bone-studded armor covered every inch of his body save his arms, and his face was almost completely obscured by a horned helmet/mask.

The third individual, and the one that troubled Lee the most, was Archibald, dressed pretty much the same as he was the last time they met, save that his cape was missing. “Long time no see, Leopold.”

“I could say the same thing about you” Lee replied calmly, though he was anything but calm.

“Uh, Mr. Lee” Edward asked innocently “who are these people?”

Before anyone could respond, Archibald whirled around to face them, startling the three of them with the sharpness of that movement. “Oh, that’s right. You and I never really met during our time in Arcadia. Judging by the description Mask gave me, you must be Edward.” His gaze settled on the other two. “And you two must be Finnegan and Cassandra.”

“Excellent, the gang’s all here” said the large man in a voice that would send chills down a tiger’s spine. Lee cursed silently. _Damnit! Did they really want to do this here? Now?_

To everyone’s surprise, Archibald began to chuckle. “Relax, Lee, we are not here to hurt you in any way, in spite of what you did to me.” He pulled out a card from a pocket. “We are simply here to officially welcome you to Midlim, and of course our School of Magic. We are also inviting you to this.”

Lee warily collected the paper from the other mage’s hand, and had barely read the parchment when Archibald cut in. “That’s right. We are inviting you to a Monster hunting expedition.”

Lee spend some time looking at the paper, which was actually just a Jack of Hearts, then looked the War Mage dead in the eye. “Monster hunting. You’re serious?”

He nodded. “It’s happening in a forest at the outskirts of Midlim. All you have to do is activate the Spatial spell enchanted into the card I just gave you to get to our rendezvous point.” When Lee did not respond, he gave a loud sigh and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Look, you haven’t forgotten what happened in Arcadia, and neither have I really, but you and your cohorts are coming with us.” He gave a smile after that sentence, a smile that made Lee wonder if he was even capable of hiding his malicious intent. “After all, isn’t that your M.O, to complete the mission no matter what?”

With that, Archibald turned to his comrades, signaling that it was time for them to go. Lee couldn’t help but feel that something was going to go very wrong in the coming days.

* * *

Rising nearly four hundred feet into the air, the Spire was the tallest building in the world, and Midlim’s crown jewel. Located at the very heart of the School, it was a giant white needle sticking out from the haystack that was the rest of the country. Saying that the structure was an eye catcher was an understatement, and for good reason too. Only the most important people from all over the known world, like the Headmasters of the Eight great Schools, could even hope to get in, and the building itself housed the two most important figures in Midlim.

Indeed, as Zerastra entered the spacious but sparsely decorated and dimly lit office at the very top of the tower, they were already present and waiting for him. With his great white beard done in a single braid, his wild mane of hair that nearly reached his ankles, his flowing purple robes and his seemingly permanent imperious stare, Archimedes looked just like one would expect an ancient and powerful mage to look like. According to legend, he spent over a hundred years fully mastering every Path before achieving Archmastery in Elemental magic, and had used the crystal-tipped wrack staff he was currently carrying to strike down a Demon Prince that was terrorizing the country. Many people believed he was the mightiest mage to ever live, though Zerastra, as well as a few others, had his own reservations.

Standing just beside Archimedes was his protégé and the current Headmistress of the School of Magic, Mycena Syn. Fairly tall with a youthful face, her beautiful and enormous pink frilly gown, alongside her hair that cascaded down her back to the floor like a golden waterfall, she almost seemed to fill up the room with her presence alone. At seventy-five years of age, she was the youngest Archmage in recorded history, having achieved such an exalted state just a decade prior. She had been running the School long before that, though, allowing her former master to focus entirely on matters of state, although there were rumors that she was merely a puppet for him.

“A fine afternoon, Archmaster Archimedes, Archmaster Mycena” Zerastra began, bowing deeply. “I am honored to meet you again after so long.”

“The honor is all ours, Archmaster Zerastra” Mycena replied, curtsying herself.

“Though I do say you look rather weathered” said Archimedes, stroking his beard. “Perhaps you would like to freshen up before we begin?”

Zerastra chuckled ever so slightly. “Your concern is appreciated, Archmaster, but I’m fine.”

Mycena turned to her senior. “He seems pretty fine to me, my lord.”

Archimedes laughed out loud. “Well, it would seem so! My apologies, Zerastra…may I call you Zerastra? Things get a bit confusing after spending two hundred and fifty years on this earth.”

“I would imagine. And yes, you may call me Zerastra.”

With that, Archimedes gestured to everyone. “Alright. Now that we’re done with the pleasantries, let’s talk business.”

* * *

Archimedes poured warm tea into a cup. “So, you want Light Dragon?”

“Precisely” Zerastra replied, receiving the cup. “We are not quite sure what it wants, but it would help to have Light Dragon around, if only to deter Darkness Dragon from doing anything rash.”

For a while, there was nothing but silence between the three of them, until finally, after taking a particularly long sip of her tea, Mycena decided it was her turn to speak. “Well, that’s all fine and good, but pay, Archmaster, I believe you’ve misjudged the situation.”

 _That doesn’t sound good_ he thought. “Misjudged, you say? And how so?”

Archimedes cleared his throat. “Do you know how we found the dragon?”

Since Zerastra didn’t respond, he continued. “I found it nearly eighty years ago sleeping in a cave underneath one of the mountains near here. I can still remember how its body glowed softly, like a pearl under the moonlight.”

“Under the mountains?” Zerastra said with a smirk. “That’s strange. It was always my belief that you were the one who raised all the mountains surrounding Midlim.”

Archimedes gave a hearty laugh. “Oh no, dear boy, only a few at most, and definitely not the one that dragon was sleeping under.” He cleared his throat again, regaining his composure. “In any case, I decided to nurse the beast back to health, in spite of the then ruling royal family’s protests. When it finally woke up, it told me all about the Darkness Dragon and their ancient feud, and how the injuries it sustained from said feud resulted in its state. So in return for nursing it back to health, it vowed to keep watch over and protect the glorious country of Midlim.”

Zerastra’s brow furrowed. “Keep watch, huh? I came to you because I believed that you had, at the very least, discovered the dragon’s whereabouts and even communicated with it once in a while. But now that you say you’ve made some sort of pact with it…that may impose some complications.”

Archimedes took a sip from his cup. “Indeed it will.”

Mycena adjusted herself on her seat. “Do you know what happened to them?”

“To who?”

“To the royal family, after they rejected my master’s reasoning and demanded the Light Dragon be slaughtered.”

Zerastra already knew the answer to that question; nothing, until about eight years after the fact when Archimedes decided to overthrow the royal families of Midlim, installing himself as her new ruler.

“Now, now, Mycena, I’m quite sure Zerastra here knows what happened” Archimedes cut in. “Do you want to know why I deposed them, the royal family I mean?”

Zerastra leaned forward. “Do tell.”

“I removed them because they were short-sighted, myopic, completely unwilling and unable to see what was in front of their noses! To them, the Light Dragon was nothing more than a monster that needed to be destroyed, but I... _we_ mages saw the bigger picture, and that ability alone makes it our right, our _responsibility_ to rule. That is what it means to be a mage.”

Zerastra crossed his arms. “I fail to see how exactly this ties in with my request.”

“Oh, I believe you have, Archmaster” Mycena responded. “This dragon has sworn to watch over us in gratitude for us saving it, and you are asking us to just give it up to Antheusa, our sworn enemy, to face the very creature that gave it those grievous injuries in the first place.”

“All while knowing full well what your people did to ours in Arcadia” Archimedes completed.

Zerastra clenched his fists, although they could not see it. “My lords, surely you must realize your people’s actions would have cost us a diplomatic mission…”

“And your people’s actions cost us revenue!” Archimedes responded, his voice raised. “Our land is not as blessed with fertility and resources as yours, Zerastra. Most of our revenue comes from potions, poultices and magic items created from the parts of the creatures you tried to get in bed with for reasons I will never understand.” The scorn in his voice at that last statement was clearly audible. “The loss of that source of income dealt us a real blow, and you must pay for it before I even consider letting you borrow the dragon.”

Exasperated, Zerastra let out a sigh. “I figured that was why you asked for Lee and the children. Fine, do as you wish, but on one condition.” He looked Archimedes straight in the eye as he said this. “You may not harm a single hair on their heads.”

Archimedes scoffed. “Well, I cannot guarantee that, Zerastra.”

“Now, now, no need for hostility” Mycena cut in, trying to diffuse the situation. “We’ve prepared suitable accommodations for you, Archmaster. How about we continue this tomorrow?”

“Very well then.” Zerastra stated, as he got up to leave. Just before he crossed the door, however, he paused for a bit. “Oh, and Archmaster Archimedes, I do hope you consider our plight and respond favorably to me. After all, you wouldn’t want your little secret to be out.”

Zerastra wanted nothing more than to see the look on the old Archmage’s face as he said that. In a way, it surprised him that little pleasures such as this still meant something to him after all these years. It was no time for him to celebrate, however, for he actually desperately needed that dragon, and the last thing he wanted to do was resort to blackmail, and yet he could not afford to take too long, for he didn’t yet know when Darkness Dragon would reach the kingdom. So, saying a silent prayer for strength, he made his way to his quarters. He had a long day ahead of him.


	5. The World's Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zerastra, Lee, Cassandra and our two heroes find themselves in a bind which will change their relationship with Midlim forever. Meanwhile, Lora confronts her inner demons while two mages confront an outer one.

Justinian stepped into Jillian’s icy cold sanctuary as quietly as he could, careful not to disturb anything. Not that it mattered much, anyways. He wasn’t trying to sneak up on her, and even though she was looking through a scrying mirror at what could only be the Darkness Dragon, a minor distraction like someone walking into the room would not distract a mage of her level. That didn’t stop him from sneaking in, though, and he couldn’t wonder why. Perhaps, he surmised, it was the situation they were in right now, that it was so sensitive that even the possibility of a distraction was too much to risk.

“You don’t have to tiptoe, Justinian” Jillian stated surprisingly loudly.

He sighed. “My apologies, I didn’t want to distract you is all.” He pretended to study the mirror. “I see you’ve found the dragon.”

She nodded ever so slightly in response. “It wasn’t easy. Apparently it spent quite some time just flying around the place looking for clues to our kingdom’s whereabouts, occasionally stopping to ask questions or eat, but now I think it has found its bearings.”

“I see” he responded with a frown, his fists clenched. “So the dragon is truly headed our way now.”

Surprising him a bit, she deactivated the mirror and turned to face him. “Your anxiety is almost suffocating me.”

“Why wouldn’t I be anxious, Jillian?” he asked, his impatience with her apparent nonchalance about the whole thing seeping into his voice. “I’ve heard stories of kingdoms being wiped out by some natural disaster or powerful supernatural being ever since I was a child. I never once thought I would be staring down the same barrel.”

“You know, for a man of faith, you sure have very little of it right now.”

“I believe in order and justice and fairness” he responded to her quip. “It isn’t fair to us or the people of this kingdom if that beast decides to destroy us for whatever reason.” He began pacing away from her. “I can’t even imagine why…what if Lord Zerastra’s plan fails? What then will we do?”

Jillian sighed, then turned back towards the mirror. “Like I said, very little faith.”

Justinian whirled around to face her just before she could reactivate the mirror. “In any case, that’s not why I came here. I want to make a proposal.”

She said nothing, but he could tell she was all ears, which was all the better for what he was about to tell her. “I believe we should go confront the dragon ourselves.”

She stopped what she was doing after that, but neither her face nor her body showed any emotional reaction to that statement. Justinian almost found it admirable how she was able to keep her cool so completely in such a situation. “And might I ask why, Justinian?”

“We don’t know why the dragon is headed to Antheusa, so what better way to find that out than to just go meet the thing, instead of waiting here twiddling our thumbs?”

Since she didn’t respond immediately, he went on. “We were instructed to monitor its movements, right? That gives us all the authority to confront the thing before it gets here.”

“And what if something happens to us in the process?” she queried snappily. “What if it destroys us whilst we ‘confront’ it?”

The tone of that question did catch him off guard, but he was expecting such a response. “Just so we’re clear, I have no intention of fighting the dragon, and neither should you. We are simply going to catch its attention and see if we can learn its motivation.” He paused for a second. “Normally, when a dragon goes anywhere near a human settlement, it’s to destroy it and take everything it can to add to its horde, but you heard Lord Zerastra, the Darkness Dragon isn’t like other dragons. Heck, it might not even want to harm anyone in the kingdom. Learning the creature’s incentives will be a massive boon to how we respond to it, don’t you agree Jillian?”

No response. Dismayed but undeterred, he tried to convince her further. “Like I said, we’re not fighting the thing. If it attacks us we flee immediately, and we will record everything we’ve learned about the thing in memory scrolls in case we can’t.”

Jillian closed her eyes, but otherwise remained completely unperturbed, which irked him a bit. He had known her for years, and he was well aware of her icy cold demeanor, but the fact that his implying their possible deaths didn’t get more of a reaction from her was still rather disconcerting. At long last, however, she got up. “Fine, then, I will follow your lead on this.” She said, then excused herself as she exited the room.

Justinian gave a sigh of relief. Dealing with her was an absolute chore. Then again, she probably felt the same way about him.

* * *

“It was so weird the first time I met her, Hephzibah, I mean” said Lora after another sip of freshly squeezed orange juice. “It was creepy, but it was also calming in a way. It was, like she could see into not just my mind but my soul, if that makes any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense, Lora” Moriah responded in her trademark soothing voice. “So what do you think she saw?”

Lora found that she didn’t have a direct answer to that. “Well…I think she saw, like, _me._ She saw my…my mind and my, my innermost thoughts and, the core of my being?” she sighed. “I’m sorry if this isn’t helpful. I don’t really know how to describe it.”

“Don’t worry about it Lora” she responded with a warm smile. “That response is very helpful.”

“All I know is that after that, she told me her people’s history with Antheusa, and how they were persecuted by the people, and…well that…”

“That struck a chord with you.”

Lora was surprised at how that statement caught her off guard. Moriah, on her part, leaned forward. “You said earlier that Hephzibah saw into your soul, but I believe you did the same thing to her.”

Moriah continued for clarification’s sake. “In many ways, you and Hephzibah are quite alike. The both of you have been hated, prosecuted, reviled and feared for no other reason than your heritage, and that makes you sad and unhappy, and you hate that feeling so much.”

Lora felt her heart beat faster, but she was too choked with emotion to speak as memories dredged up to the surface unbidden. This was exactly what Moriah wanted. “But you were different. While you understood Hephzibah deep down, and you both felt the same hate, you channeled your experiences into making the world a better place for your people, while she gave into her hate and tried to destroy the people who had hurt her. You were better than her…or so you thought.”

Again, Lora was left speechless. “No, as you quickly found out, those feelings of hate and the desire for revenge never left you. You found out that despite what you may believe, you are ultimately no better than Hephzibah, and that makes you _angry._ ”

“S-So that’s it?” said Lora shakily. “That’s why I feel this way?”

Moriah leaned back into her seat. “It’s certainly a catalyst, but no, that’s not why you feel this way. Remember, I was there too. Your anger doesn’t come from how you were treated, it’s from the fact that the people who hurt you so haven’t been brought to justice.”

It took a while for Lora to figure out what she was talking about, but it soon became apparent, and at once she could clearly remember when exactly it began; the inciting incident. “Lord Zerastra.”

“Exactly” Moriah responded. “He told you his history, of how he pretty much single handedly slaughtered the entire gypsy race, you rightfully connected that what happened to your people, and you’ve realized how he pretty much got away with genocide simply because he killed the people that everyone else hated because they were different.”

Again, Lora could feel it. The heat rose up inside her chest as she contemplated Moriah’s words. Tears welled up in her eyes. “How, how could he…how could he get away with that?”

Moriah sighed and raised her face towards the ceiling. “He’s no ordinary person, Lora. He is powerful, respected and most importantly willful. If Zerastra wants it, he will get it no matter what.” She paused for a moment; she had to choose her next words carefully. _Besides, you can argue that he had a point_ is what she wanted to say, but she quashed the idea immediately.

“However, and this is really important, Lora; there is a middle ground. You don’t have to be a monster like Hephzibah was, but that doesn’t mean you must stop hating those who treat you badly because you’re a Grigori.”

“Then what do I do?”

“Well, you could ignore them, cuss them out, challenge them to a duel, or just anything you can to release your anger because you can’t let it control you. Remember, your cause is just. You’re trying to bring your people out of the shadow of discrimination. So don’t focus on the assholes who try to disparage and discriminate against you, and instead try to focus on the people who stand by you.”

Lora, for a while, said nothing, simply basking in the moment as she felt the weight of her worries roll of her shoulders. Zerastra and all the other people didn’t matter, what mattered were the friends who stood by her, the family that loved her and the mission she had come to accomplish, and she would never let the actions of other people control her feelings again. She made a mental note to apologize to George for being such a no-show for the past few weeks, and also to Edward and Finn once they got back.

* * *

“Hey, Ed, are we ever gonna get back home?”

“Darn it! Why would they do something like this?”

Why indeed, for the two of them found themselves, through no fault of their own, in the one situation they absolutely didn’t want to be in.

The hunting expedition had started out normally. The two of them, along with Lee and Cassandra had met up with Archibald’s group at their chosen rendezvous point. “The UnderWelden”, that was their destination. It was several hundred square kilometers of dense deciduous forest and the air was, according to one of their so-called guides, thick with a strange energy that was the reason this place was infested with strange monsters of all kinds. Once it was time to venture into the forest, they decided to split into two groups. The large guy and the spear-wielding girl would go with the two of them while Archibald would go with Lee and Cassandra. Lee protested vehemently; the last thing he wanted to do was leave the children with strangers, and he would not budge despite all their protests, so they decided they would all go together.

That, of course, was cause for much suspicion. There was no way they would just decide to go together after first suggesting that they split up. All four Antheusans were extremely suspicious of the whole arrangement, and their suspicions soon turned out to be valid. Barely an hour into the journey, the spear girl suddenly plunged it headfirst into the ground, which was followed immediately by a bright flash. When Finn and Edward woke up, they found themselves alone and in a place they didn’t recognize, and at the mercy of whatever horrors lurked in the forest.

“We need to get outta here” said Edward as he began trudging through the dark mud. Because of the thick canopy of trees, he could barely see where he was going. He couldn’t even accurately tell whether it was night or day, but he felt he had to keep moving nonetheless. “We don’t want whatever monsters live here to find us.”

“And go where?” Finn protested. “Do you even know where you’re going? Do you even know where we are?” He moved towards Edward. “Look, we should wait here. I’m sure Lee and Cassandra are looking for us. Staying put will make it easier for them.”

Edward was about to give a retort, but he was distracted by a strange yet unmistakable sound. “Hey, do you hear that Finn?”

“Hear what?”

Almost as if in response to that, the sound grew louder; the sound of a little girl sobbing in the distance. Dozens of thoughts raced through his mind at once; who was the girl? What was she doing in a place like this? Maybe she was lost like them, or maybe she had been put here by Midlimi mages. Maybe it was a trap…”

“I think it’s coming from over there” Edward announced, pointing north-east from where they were, “Is that…crying? You think she’s lost like we are?”

“Maybe we should find out” Finn replied, and began moving towards the sound’s direction as if the two of them had already agreed to do that. Edward sighed, thinking back at how hesitant Finn was to move before they heard a stranger crying in the distance, then reluctantly began following him. “Hey, Finn!” he called out as he tried to catch up to him. “Where are you going? Aren’t you the guy who said we should stay put? What if it’s a trap?”

Edward’s complaints died in his throat once he lay eyes on it. As it turned out, the girl in question was not too far away from where they were, though he could have sworn she sounded much further away. Dressed in an immaculately white nightgown, she was on her knees, the overly long sleeves of her nightgown covering her face as she continued to sob even as Finn approached her quietly. The girl appeared much younger than even they were- she couldn’t have been more than five- and a single ray of sunlight pierced the thick forest canopy and hit her tan hair in such an angle that it seemed to glow golden. His suspicion hadn’t fizzled out completely, but he managed to drop his guard for the time being.

Finn, on the other hand, was completely taken in; he could not just see a girl crying here in the forest and not, at the very least, attempt to help her. “Hey, are you okay?” he said calmly as he approached her, but she didn’t seem to even notice him. “It’s okay, don’t worry” he continued, inching even closer. “We’re lost too” he gestured towards Finn. “But we’ve got people who are definitely looking for us. They’ll get you to safety.”

Wordlessly, the girl threw her arms around Finn, sobbing quietly into his cloak while a mildly flustered Finn patted her back reassuringly. For his part, Edward found the whole scenario rather touching. For a millisecond, his eyes made contact with her eyes; her beady, yellow eyes that glowed with a ravenous, predatory hunger.

Before he could shout, the girl buried her teeth- _fangs_ \- into Finn’s right shoulder. Crying out in pain, he lashed out at the girl with his other hand, knocking her off but tearing off a bit of his own flesh. Snarling, she began to transform; her clothes disappearing into her, her hair transforming into a wild mane dotted with stray feathers, monstrous avian feet replacing her legs and doubling her height, her arms transforming into enormous feathered wings.

Finn staggered backwards, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he watched the once-girl take to the sky, her demonic cackle ringing through the forest. The pain was unbelievable; had Edward not come to his side to support him, he would surely have blacked out there and then.

 _Why?_ Edward asked himself in vain as the monster circled around them. _Why’d it have to be harpies?_

Neither Finn nor Edward knew that harpies could shape-shift. If they did, they would probably have been more suspicious of a random girl crying in the forest. What they did know, however, was that its mad cackling was in fact a rallying cry, and that harpies were pack creatures; if there was one of them, a dozen more were sure to be nearby, and much to their dismay that is exactly what happened. Soon they found themselves surrounded on all sides by the abominations, their squawks and shrieks ringing through the air like a dirge for their prey.

Ed had to think fast. Carrying his wounded ally on his shoulder, he began firing fireballs into the air with his free hand, hoping to scare them away as he made his escape, but the monsters were not so easily fooled, simply darting around his fireballs as they cautiously closed in on their quarry. Snarling, Edward carefully dropped the barely conscious Finn on the ground and, with a mighty cry, slammed his hands into the mud. Pillars of the stuff instantly erupted from the ground, startling the harpies and even knocking down a few. That display had bought him a precious few seconds, but just as he picked Finn up, his legs buckled, sending them both to the floor. _Darn it!_ He said silently, _that last trick took more out of me than I thought._

Edward found his footing again, then got violently knocked down as a harpy collided into him from behind, talons first, scoring light gashes on his back and ruining his clothes. Before he could even attempt to get back up, one of them grabbed his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain as its eight inch talons dug into his shoulders. Adrenalin was the only thing keeping him going as struggled vainly against the creature as it lifted him into the air. He was just about to resign himself to his fate when the thing trembled suddenly, then let him go in midair. He did not see the person who caught him, nor did he see who was firing all those arrows. The last thing he saw before blacking out was a man hoisting Finn on a…centaur?

* * *

It was the acrid smell of something burning that stirred Finn into consciousness. As his vision cleared, it became obvious to him that he was in some sort of tent, but how did he get there? Slowly, he sat up, then clenched his teeth in agony as pain shot through his back. That was when it all came flooding back; he and Finn getting abandoned in the forest, the girl, the harpies, the person that caught him…

“It would seem you’ve finally awoken, human child.”

Edward did a double take once he lay eyes on the creature that said that. While it was proportioned like a human, no one could ever mistake it for one. Its skin was dark like a starless sky, its purity interrupted by its sparkling golden sclera that almost seemed to glow in defiance of its skin and subdued grey hair that cascaded down its back. Its thin, pointed ears stood out like an insect’s antenna and seemed to twitch with even the slightest disturbance in the air. The word came to him unbidden; _elf._

The creature chuckled. “Well, you’re not entirely wrong.” It offered him a cup filled with what Edward recognized as the acrid-smelling substance from earlier. “Your wounds were severe” it continued when it noticed him hesitating. “I’ve treated them, but this will help you heal. Here, take it.”

Reluctantly, he took the cup from the creature, then took a good look at its contents. The liquid was a milky white, and it released bubbles intermittently. He wanted to ask it what it was and why it had apparently saved them, but a much more pressing matter brought itself to the forefront. “Finn, Finn, where is he?”

The creature cocked its head. “Are you referring to your friend, because if you are, he’s fine. He actually woke up long before you did.”

Edward breathed a sigh of relief, and with that bugbear out of the way, he could finally satisfy his curiosity. “Uh, I’m sorry but what exactly _are_ you?”

“Of course” it said knowingly, then it stood up, showing the white-grey, form-fitting animal fur jacket and trousers that covered its slender frame. “Like you said, I’m an elf, though not like any you’ve seen, I assume.” Another similar-looking being entered the tent and the two of them began to communicate in a language Edward did not understand. “I’m sorry, where was I?” it continued after the other one left. “Like I was saying, we are quite different from the elves you know. Same thing with the rest of us.”

“The…rest of you?”

The elf nodded. “You know, the Dwarves, Pixies, Goblins and the like.” Its voice took on a wistful tone. “Our ancestors did not make it to Arcadia, so we settled here in this forest in order to escape humanity.” It ran a hand down the wall of the tent, facing away from Ed. “But this forest was not Arcadia. It offered no special protection against your kind, and you humans continued to hunt us down like animals while despoiling the forest for your own gain. So the forest adapted, and so did we.”

“Adapted?”

“That’s right.” The elf turned to face him. “To defend against humanity’s rapacious avarice, the forest became cold and unforgiving, so we did as well, shedding everything about ourselves that wasn’t optimized for killing and survival, and in doing so, we changed. The Elves became the Dark Elves, the Dwarves became the Redcaps, the Sprites became the Changelings, the Goblins the Hobgoblins, the Satyrs the Fauns, the Centaurs the Nuckelavees, the Pixies the Terrors, the Trolls the Ogres. We defend our land and our lives from humans and everything else with everything we have, and one day we will have our revenge.”

“Damn” was all Edward could say after that speech, but then a concern suddenly cropped up in his head. “Hold on, if you hate humans, then why did you…”

“Help the two of you?” the dark elf completed. “It’s quite simple, really. You two bear the mark of Arcadia.”

“The mark of Arcadia?” Edward said to himself, then began frantically searching his body, which elicited a laugh from the dark elf. “No, no, it’s not like that! It’s not some special tattoo, it’s been engraved into your soul, showing to all Fair Folk that Arcadia considers you an ally, and therefore so should we.”

“Oh, right” said a slightly embarrassed Edward. Even so, he could not believe how incredibly fortunate they were that these strange fairies just happened to run into and rescue them. He hoped the other two were okay…

“Oh yeah, that’s right” he exclaimed. “There were two others with us…”

“I know” the elf cut in. “We actually found them first, though they were having a much easier time with the forest than you two. As a matter of fact, they were the ones that asked us to find you. We’ve escorted them out of the forest, of course. What were their names again…? Oh yes, Lee and Cassandra, was it?”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“I did notice the other three that came with you.” Edward noticed the bitterness that crept into its voice, which meant she was undoubtedly referring to the Midlimi mages. “To be honest, it’s quite surprising that humans like you could ever gain Arcadia’s favor.”

“Humans like… no, no, we’re actually not from here. We’re visiting from another country, I mean Finn, Lee, Cassandra and I. we were going on a monster hunting expedition when…well, they left us for dead.”

“Well that explains a lot.” The elf got up. “These Midlimi mages hunt us like game animals, and they even maltreat members of their own kind. It actually amazes me humans find it so easy to hate each other.” With that, she made her way out of the tent. “You should finish that before it gets cold.”

* * *

“That will be three copper coins” said the shopkeeper as he handed his customer one basket full of freshly baked buns.

“Take five” Zerastra responded as he collected the basket.

“Why the generosity?” he asked, a greedy smile creeping onto his face.

Zerastra smiled right back. “I don’t know, maybe next time I’ll pay one coin.”

Leaving the pleasantly cynical shopkeeper behind, the Archmage continued on his self-sponsored tour of the city. In the three hours he had been wandering around Midlim, he had entered three bars, bought items from three shops which he discreetly spirited away to his quarters with Spatial magic and even seen a play, all the while not forgetting his true goal; finding clues as to the whereabouts of Light Dragon. He figured that although Archimedes and Mycena alongside a few trusted aides were the only ones who were supposed to be aware of the dragon’s existence, there was simply no way that anyone, even an Archmage, could keep such a big secret without _somebody_ figuring it out or catching wind of it. Today he hit the streets; tomorrow he would go to the School, and although he had not yet found anyone who knew anything, he was confident that he would.

And he would, all the while hiding in plain sight.

There was one thing that he noticed during this little expedition of his, though, and that was the conspicuous lack of mages in the town. Back in Antheusa, mages hardly interacted with ordinary people on a daily basis save staff of the School and a select few nobles. The reason for that was, at least as far as he was concerned, completely absurd and entirely justified; mages were _different._ To become a mage was to stand apart from the rest of mankind. After all, when one gains the power to shape the world as they deemed fit, one could not possibly continue to think in the same level as people who could not, and that divergence in outlooks meant that the behaviors and thought processes of all but the most novice mages were utterly alien to outsiders. This was the major reason they largely stayed away from politics and politicking, which made them even more isolated from the rest of mankind. But Midlim was different. In Midlim, mages _were_ the law. They were the upper class, and therefore should be able to interact at least a little better with the public, or at least be more relevant in their lives. And yet, he could not see that. Why was that?

He already knew the answer, of course, but that didn’t matter right now.

After a long day of stalking the streets and talking to as many people as he could, he finally found what he was looking for. He ran into a woman in her early twenties who had wanted to purchase the exact same good luck charm he wanted. Charmed by the graciousness he displayed by letting her buy it, she introduced herself as Hilda; one of the many assistants to the School’s treasurer, and she was taking a rare day off to buy all the things she wanted.

“A dragon, you say?” said Zerastra, feigning surprise.

“Like you wouldn’t believe” she responded. “I overheard a few of the teachers talking about it a couple of years back. They were talking about how they found it sleeping underground in a cave.”

“Underground, you say? What would a dragon be doing underground?”

“Your guess is as good as mine” she said with a shrug. “There was also talk about how Lord Archimedes wanted to ‘enslave’ the thing or something like that.”

Zerastra chuckled. “He can’t be serious can he? I mean, even he can’t do that to a dragon, right?”

It was Hilda’s turn to chuckle now. “You tell him. Anyways, that’s all I ever heard about that stuff. Frankly speaking, the last thing I wanna do is go snooping around in magic business. You know these mages don’t like people snooping around in their business. The last thing I want is what happened to those brothers to happen to me.”

“B-Brothers you say?” Zerastra looked confused. “Is this recent, because if so..”

“Oh yeah, that’s right, you probably weren’t around.” She began fishing for something in her purse. “Hey, you say you’re a travelling merchant, right? How are mages in other countries? Are they the same as Midlim mages?”

Before he could answer that question, a loud explosion nearly knocked them off the bench they were sitting on. Zerastra took a glance at what had happened, and saw an enormous plume of smokeless fire vaguely shaped like a person dance and wave its “arms” around madly, immolating everything it touched. Hilda screamed.

“Come with me” Zerastra barked, then took her hand and ran without waiting for her to respond. He stopped once he felt he was in a safe. “What the hell was that?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s from Sylvester’s Shop of Wonders” she replied in-between gulps of air. “He’s a mage who owns a chain of shops that sell all sorts of magic stuff like lucky charms and love potions…”

 _And sealed fire elementals_ Zerastra thought. The fact that a mage was allowed to let such a dangerous item be seen in public, much less sold to non-mages, showed a frightening amount of irresponsibility. “Does this happen often, because if so, I can’t imagine the damages he’d have to…”

“Forget it, man” she cut in. “He’s not gonna pay any damages, because he’s a mage. You can’t sue or charge him with anything barring directly causing the death of a citizen. That’s the law.”

Zerastra nodded affirmatively. Such was the law in a country ruled by mages, by people to whom the plights of living were minor inconveniences. Such was Midlim.

* * *

Jillian regretted her decision the moment the portal closed behind her and the hot desert sand blew into her face and got into her shoes. She hadn’t even been here five seconds, and she already missed the blissful comfort of her icy sanctuary. Justinian himself didn’t seem perturbed at all; of course he didn’t, since this was his idea in the first place. He closed his eyes and mentally recited words of power, and almost instantly a putto- a tiny fey spirit of light- manifested itself in front of him. “Go” he commanded. “Tell the dragon that approaches that we wish to speak to it.”

With a simple nod, it took to its tiny wings as blasted off at light speed to its destination.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked.

“Are you?” he deflected.

She scoffed. “Well, it seems I have no choice now, do I?”

Almost to confirm her statement, a massive silhouette suddenly enveloped the duo. The sand that had been blowing relatively evenly now whipped around them violently as gigantic wings stirred the grains into a frenzy, and as the Darkness Dragon completed its landing just a few meters away from them, they both felt an uncharacteristic shiver run down their spines.

**Hello, humans.**


End file.
